Dally M favourite Tuivasa-Sheck in doubt for Tests

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's season might end with a Dally M medal, but his availability for the end-of-season Test against the Kangaroos and the Kiwis' European tour is in doubt after the Warriors talisman was injured during his side's finals exit.

One of the most electrifying No.1s in the game, Tuivasa-Sheck was helped from the field with a suspected medial ligament knee injury in the Warriors' 27-12 loss to the Panthers at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

Major blow: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck hobbles from the field against the Panthers at ANZ Stadium.Credit:AAP

It came after his knee collided with Sione Katoa just moments after the Panthers piled on back-to-back first-half tries within the space of three minutes.

"I guess it was a bit of a sense when Roger did come off there was a bit of a lull in our energy," Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said. "That didn’t help, but I thought we were still in the contest. We just didn’t find any momentum in the second half.

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"At this stage, it looks like a medial. But we need to get some scans on it the first thing on Monday."

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Tuivasa-Sheck is the hot favourite to win his first Dally M Medal as the NRL's player of the season and is due to feature in New Zealand's one-off Test against Australia in Auckland on October 13. Michael Maguire's side will then play four Tests in the northern hemisphere.

The Warriors didn't score a point after Tuivasa-Sheck's injury as the mountain men piled on 25 unanswered points either side of half-time to progress to the second week of the finals for the third straight year.

While disappointed at his side's performance, Kearney could still see the positives from a year in which his side returned to the finals and sat in the top four for much of the first half of the season.

"It’s important to recognise that," he said. "It’s a pretty disappointed dressing room because we didn’t put our best performance out there.

"But we have made some progress this year, there’s no doubt about that. The competition has showed guys that were playing prelim finals last year, grand finals last year … in a blinking of an eye it can head the other way.

Club legend: Simon Mannering is clapped off the field after a career spanning 301 NRL games.Credit:AAP

"We’re really determined to make sure that we improve and we’ve got to be better."

Simon Mannering signed off on a magnificent career with the Warriors, who looked capable of causing an upset in Sydney after early tries to Issac Luke and David Fusitu'a. But James Maloney and Nathan Cleary kicked the Warriors into submission.

On Mannering, Tohu Harris said: "We didn’t want his career to end. We wanted to keep playing games with him and he’s someone you want out on the field with you.

"He spoke to the group about how grateful he was for us to put in for him this year. He’s left a huge mark on the club and hopefully we can continue on from where he left it."